Mirpur, March 15: Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim is hoping his team steps a notch higher against India, after giving Pakistan a scare in the opening match of the 2012 Asia Cup. The hosts put up a good fight chasing Pakistan’s 262 before falling 21 runs short.
Rahim wants his batsmen to display similar steel against the Indian bowling, which he thinks is India’s weakness. "Their bowling attack seems less stronger than Pakistan's or Sri Lanka's, that's what I feel personally," he said. "This is what is giving us confidence against India."
Although, the Bangladesh captain acknowledged India’s strong batting line-up, which showed its mettle against Sri Lanka by posting 300-plus runs. However, he urged his bowlers to hold their own against the strong opponents.
"It is quite difficult to bowl against their batting line-up," Mushfiqur said. "But at the same time, a good ball is enough for a batsman if it's his bad day. If we can capitalise on it and make them commit mistakes by bowling to their weakness, it would work."
Over the years Bangladesh have shown glimpses of improvement by beating the big teams once in a while but have failed to maintain the consistency. Rahim wants his team to change that trend and compete with the top teams on a regular basis.
"More than just winning a game, it is important for us to play against big teams confidently, fight against them. This will help us grow and win. We lost the first game by going close, but we don't do this on a regular basis, so we tend to forget what to do in such situations when faced with it,” Rahim said.
Bangladesh will play India on March 16 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in a day-night encounter.
